ADHD Isn't just “difficulty paying attention"

ADHD Is misunderstood I think. people with ADD or ADHD are written off as just being hyper or easily distracted. I haven’t even really fully understood what it means to have ADHD until recently, and I was diagnosed at When I was a lot younger. I'm now 23. here is some information to help you learn about it...

Social skills -

ADHD is kind of similar to autism in the way that sometimes it’s difficult for us to check our voice volume and energy level compared to other peoples’. sometimes we’re told to ‘tone it down’ when we can’t read other people well enough. there’s surprisingly a whole lot of overlap between autism and ADHD. people are easily misdiagnosed, especially girls! people can have both autism and ADHD, but one doesn’t always come with the other. though they are similar in several ways, they are still very different.

Executive dysfunction -

ADHD people find it extremely difficult to focus on things that don’t interest them. sometimes it’s even physically uncomfortable for us to sit in one place and do something we don’t feel like doing. alternatively, something we Really Enjoy can be completely absorbing and take up literally all of our attention. this is called ‘hyper fixating’ on something. topics that ADHD people tend to take a very strong interest in are known as ‘hyperfixations’. hyperfixation is another similarity to autistic people's’ ‘special interests’. these are specifically neurodivergent terms. ADHD people can have extensive knowledge of their hyperfixations and can focus for hours on one thing without trouble.

IMPORTANT -

ADHD's people’s brains prioritize things not necessarily by importance, but by what’s most comfortable for us to be doing at the time. this leads to procrastination and is why we get so behind and disorganized. it’s not laziness! it’s just how our brains work. it also manifests in ways like being unable to get up and do something even if we know we really, really should be doing it. we just Can’t. that’s not laziness either. don’t let people call you lazy for that.

Memory -

ADHD people tend to have really bad short term memory loss. our focus jumps between different things so often that important stuff is easily left behind. we are always forgetting something we need to bring or where things are or what we need to buy...our brains run like we constantly have 50 tabs open at once. there’s always something new to pay attention to and things we need to remember to get buried. it’s never because we just “don’t care enough.” we care a lot and we’re trying! people tell us to “just make a schedule” or “just write it down in a list!!” I’m telling you.. WE WILL FORGET ABOUT THE LIST!! or we will lose it!! it Does Not Work we have Tried.

emotion -

ADHD people feel emotions VERY STRONGLY. sometimes they’re too much to handle. people can get upset with us for being too sensitive when we get overly angry or sad about something. we’re easily overwhelmed in this sense so just have patience

distractibility -

this one is obvious, but it’s not cliche shit. we could be in the middle of something we want to do and get distracted and forget what we were doing. it really, really sucks when people think we aren’t taking things seriously or are “just lazy” or “don’t care enough.” our brains don’t prioritize things correctly! it is not because of laziness, it is quite literally how we are wired. your patience means the world to us. we have a really hard time getting started on projects. the idea of something taking up so much energy and time and being confused about how to start (so many ideas at the same time) is so overwhelming that we just leave it for later. it’s always easier after you get started. our brains always want something attention-grabbing, something to keep it occupied, which is why we are always moving a leg or humming a song or listening to music, etc. we are really uncomfortable without some kind of stimuli like that. it hurts us when you get mad at us for fidgeting or anything of the sort.. ESPECIALLY when you call us ‘annoying’!! Don’t do that!! we cannot help it

Another autism similarity -

ADHD people have difficulty making eye contact sometimes. if you’re talking and we’re looking elsewhere, we’re still paying attention! sometimes it helps us to focus if we’re looking at something else actually tuning out - sometimes i can be looking directly at someone’s face, or a board, or a book or something.. and not be taking in anything in front of me. not hearing the words, not reading what I'm seeing, nothing. we don’t do that on purpose. our thoughts distract us. what works for a neurotypical person will not always work for an ADHD person! try not to say “why aren’t you just doing it this way” and make an attempt to understand how our minds work. especially you, parents. we are not wrong for functioning differently from you. when an ADHD person tells you “I’m trying”, believe them, please! we really are trying to stay on top of things. things can feel out of control for us sometimes. none of it is purposeful. this took a long time for me to come to terms with. I am not lazy, I am just different.

I can’t even name how many times I’ve been misunderstood and criticized by teachers, instructors, etc.

It is so sad how misunderstood ADHD is. They'll diagnose and medicate ADHD but they will NEVER educate You about it.